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At MIT, Gov. Deval Patrick highlights clean-energy achievements

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In an Earth Day address at MIT in 2008, Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick outlined an ambitious set of goals that he said could achieve significant reductions in greenhouse-gas emissions and create businesses and jobs based on clean-energy solutions. In a follow-up talk this week, he described a series of successes in achieving these goals.

“Five years ago,” MIT President L. Rafael Reif said in introducing Patrick, the governor “delivered an inspiring challenge: He argued that the commonwealth could improve its environment and its economy by leading the way in energy efficiency and clean-energy innovation.”

In the ensuing years, Reif said, Patrick delivered on that promise: “Today, thanks to his leadership, Massachusetts ranks first in the nation in state-level energy efficiency.”

In addition, Reif said, “Harmful pollution and emissions are both declining, and clean-energy jobs are on the rise. Massachusetts has proven by example that we can have a strong economy and a healthy environment.”